Unfortunately, the "best" of them represent about 10% of the total ink that is scratched into people's bodies daily. Fine, original works. Conceived of and drawn together, by the client and the tatt artiste. With meaning and resonance in the life of the wearer. Something which when completed inspires pride in the artist as well as his customer.

The rest are sad looking, ill conceived and badly positioned stencils in garish colours with no meaning other than that someone got caught up in the latest fashion trend and decided to mark being an individual by getting inked, just like all his/her friends did. Often with precisely the same images his/her friends are sporting btw.

If I see one more teenaged girl with stars on her abs or one more wanna-be stylista boy with celtic armbands and no fucking idea, I think I'm going to slap one of them.

“No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.” ― P.J. O'Rourke

Unfortunately, the "best" of them represent about 10% of the total ink that is scratched into people's bodies daily.

I believe the same could be said of any artistic medium, be it music, graphic art, or (dare I say it?) writing. "There's only three tempos: slow, medium and fast. When you get between in the cracks, ain't nuthin' happenin'." Ben Webster

I believe the same could be said of any artistic medium, be it music, graphic art, or (dare I say it?) writing.

lolYeah but unlike poor choices made in relation to those art-forms, tattoos are forever.

You don't have to walk around with an Oasis album adorning your body for the rest of your days do you?“No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.” ― P.J. O'Rourke

Hm-m-m-m. Point taken. But does that make the fine portion any less fine? Since bodies change, aren't tattoos really a kind of performance art? They can fine at some point, but fade, sag, or otherwise change. Music can be fine, yet it is infinitely more fleeting than the beauty of a well-executed tattoo."There's only three tempos: slow, medium and fast. When you get between in the cracks, ain't nuthin' happenin'." Ben Webster

It depends on the art work and where it is placed. Too many and like a tree in a forest you can't enjoy it, but a few then you can savor them. Also where a girl puts them. Those that just show a little makes you want to remove her clothing so you can see the rest. And when you know the story behind each one, why she picked this type or style and know what she was feeling it helps. Like I said when there are so many you can't make them out its destroys the reason a person got one.

The concept of 'fine art' is completely subjective. In the early days of Picasso, his work was considered 'junk' by many. It depends on what you view art as. Most people feel comfortable classifying 'fine art' based on bourgeois concepts only after artists are dead and catalogued. Many modern artists are overlooked because a large part of society classifies art based on what they learn it's supposed to look like, rather than what it makes you feel.

In my opinion Tattoo artists create urban art. Not all of them. Some can reproduce and replicate very well, but if you see what an elite level tattoo artist produces, it can be quite evocative and complex... more so when they are doing interpretations or creating designs that can exist together harmoniously (like on a tattoo sleeve or a large space).

Unfortunately most clients walk in with very specific ideas for their tattoos so most artists are confined by their demands. But many dedicated tattoo artists don't just work with ink... they use other mediums for their art. I think tattooing is a limited genre in itself.

Anyway... I think some pieces are extraordinarily beautiful.

I actually just got my first tattoo today (just something small and meaningful to me). I think the meaning behind people's tattoos are part of their beauty.

I love when people have a story behind their ink. And conversely I feel sorry for all those people that succumbed to the dolphin, starburst and barb wire around the bicep trends of the past.

I got my first tattoo 22 years ago and I always said that I'd like another - they can be somewhat addictive...

I finally decided on an idea about a year ago - a concept which meant a lot to me.

I drew up the design and I went to a few different artists who all got quite excited about teh design...

A friend recommended a studio and I thought that although I'd already decided what I wanted, I'd go on his recommendation.

I met a young woman there who pretty much said that she didn't think my idea would work and to come back in 2 weeks and she'd have a design for me. I was quite pissed off, but I did go back and what she had come up with was much better than mine - in that it worked better as a tattoo.

I started work last January and now, some 70 or so hours in, the two of us have worked together and I am absolutely delighted with my back piece - I don't know if it's fine art - well, it is to me and it tells my life's story...

Since starting this thread I researched more on the subject. Most know already that I am an avid fan of this art.I have, in my opinion, found one of the first artists to use the medium of tattooing and the human body as a true canvas. Her approach is founded on this idea - that the body is just aother vehicle for her expression.Below are a few of her projects as well as her site.

The above, it's on a different tattooing platform. It's refreshing to see something different and unique until everybody starts doing it. I'm a big fan of tattoos when done artistically and carries meaning for the person. Sadly, there are more than the fair share of crappy tattoos.Exceptional tattoos came from great artists who choose to display their skills on the skin as canvas. I think tattoos are a form of art but I personally wouldn't call it fine art.

Some tattoos are very beautiful and yes I would call them art. Ii am not a fan of very large tattoos but some are simply amazing and even more so when you consider the "canvas" the artist is working with.

I would never get a large tattoo, especially with my fear of needles. I do have a small one I got when I was a very drunk teen. But it is not anything special.

I do agree they are an art form. I have just recently seen some on afew friends of mine. They are huge artistic and expensive. The whole thigh area. They are beautiful, and well done.The whole shoulder on another. They both have many, many of them.and can't wait until they can do more.With that said I am glad they are on them tho, I have a small one on my shoulder of a butterfly.I got that when my son turned 21. I was in Daytona Beach celebrating his 21st birthday with him.It was my first and last. I bought him a drink for the first time too.

There are tattoo artists and there are those that tattoo, the stuff that artist do I find incredible and leave me wishing I had an ounce of their talant. Im 40 and will be getting my first tattoo in the next few weeks. Can't wait.

Thanks for sharing! I love the style of tattooing where it isn't about "pictures" or pin-ups, or flowers, or portraits, etc. There are well done tattoos of these, but I just see them so often that even if there is a story behind it, it's sort of watered down, imo.

So as for Wachob and the tattoo shop based in Germany (I keep forgetting the name, but they do Deconstructivism/ Grunge art style like the first two images Iszofia posted), I consider it...a more elevated art style?

I have 4 tattoos myself and Im going to continute getting them because if they're done right tattos can be a beautiful piece of art...Yes there are some people who end up with horrible tattoos and are stuck with them but I dont see whats wrong with getting them in general...they are just a way some people express themselves.

Yes I do, art is an expression of yourself, of how you see the world and want to be seen. So a tattoo is nothing less then an artist creating a masterpiece on another medium. however i do have to agree that there are some truly hideous tattooists out there that should not be inking people, then again not everyone enjoys the same art work. =)

Joined: 5/7/2012Posts: 64Location: Some Where On A Bicycle Path, United States

I for one love body art. It's like the "right of passage" for a young adult to do something that is not 'parent approved' when you turn "17" you can put art on you body legally. You have to be "18" to vote and in the United States you have to be "21" before you can drink legally.

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